Hit-run victim's son hits snag at post office

Thursday

Jan 24, 2013 at 1:00 PMJan 24, 2013 at 5:31 PM

By Susan Spencer TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The campaign of a hit-and-run victim's son to notify by postcard 10,000 neighbors in Millbury and Sutton about the guilty driver's probation has run into red tape. But the last-minute bureaucratic hurdle is just “a bump in the road,” said David Quist, 50, of Worcester.

Mr. Quist said this morning he learned late Wednesday that the word came from Washington, D.C., to the Millbury and Sutton post offices to hold the postcards that were ready for delivery that day.

The double-sided postcard, in the style of a “wanted” bulletin, reads in bold next to a photograph of Arthur T. Scanlon, who pleaded guilty to the hit-and-run charges: “Call 911 if you see this man driving.”

Mr. Quist said he has called the U.S. Postal Service's legal office in Bristol, Conn., to ask them to clarify why the postcards weren't deemed deliverable and what he can do to get them to every doorstep in the towns where Mr. Scanlon is staying with relatives.

He said Postal Service officials initially told him Wednesday that “Due to personal content, it was not conforming to postal regulations.”

He may have to insert the postcards into individual envelopes, which would triple the cost of the mailing. Mr. Quist estimated he has spent $4,000 already on the postcards.

He also questioned why political postcards with personal information about candidates can be mailed without envelopes.

Mr. Quist had checked with state safety officials and lawyers before sending the postcards to make sure he wasn't violating Mr. Scanlon's rights by asking people to report violations of his probation.

“Clark (Mailing Service) had sent samples to Shrewsbury (postal distribution center) and it was blessed,” Mr. Quist said. He had understood, “Once it passes Shrewsbury, nothing can stop it.”